Healthy Habits

You can help stop germs from spreading. Whenever possible, the best idea is to stay home, away from others, when you are ill.

How Germs Spread: One way that illnesses like colds and flu are spread is from person to person in respiratory droplets of coughs and sneezes. This is called "droplet spread."

This can happen when droplets from a cough or sneeze of an infected person move through the air and are deposited on the mouth or nose of people nearby. Sometimes germs also can be spread when a person touches respiratory droplets from another person on a surface like a desk and then touches his or her own eyes, mouth or nose before washing their hands. We know that some viruses and bacteria can live two hours or longer on surfaces like cafeteria tables, doorknobs and desks.